Banjo mute

ABSTRACT

A mute for a banjo or other stringed instrument which includes a frame, a bridge and strings supported on the bridge, the mute comprising an arm which is pivotally mounted with respect to the frame and a resilient pad carried by the arm and arranged to be positioned over the bridge to dampen the vibration of the strings.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,797,355 Law Mar. 19 1974 [54] BANJO MUTE1.761.294 6/1930 Forsythe 84/273 Inventor: Clement La C icago I.1.810,..59 6/1931 Stallone 84/273 [73] Assignees: Clement R. Law;Josiphine F. Law, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS h f Chicago, 111239.493 12/1925 Great Britain .1 84/310 [22] Filed: May 30, 1972 Appl.No.: 257,580

[52] US. Cl. 84/273, 84/311 [51] Int. Cl ..G10c 1/10 [58] Field ofSearch 84/267, 273, 294, 308, 84/310, 311

[56] References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.826.969 10/1931 Truettet a1..... .84/273 821.494 5/1906 Howard 84/310 UX 706.381 8/1902Bronson... 84/273 2.483.268 9/1949 Primary Examiner-Stephen J. TomskyAssistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales Attorney, Agent, or FirmHil1,Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson I 57 ABSTRACT A mute for a banjo orother stringed instrument which includes a frame, a bridge and stringssupported on the bridge, the mute comprising an arm which is pivotallymounted with respect to the frame and a resilient pad carried by the armand arranged to be positioned over the bridge to dampen the vibration ofthe strings.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BANJO MUTE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention This invention is in the field of mutingstructures for stringed instruments such as banjos and employs apivotally mounted arm which can be swung into and out of mutingrelationship with the strings as they are supported by the bridge.

2. Description of the Prior Art The banjo has a characteristic metallicor brassy tone which is primarily due to the presence of high frequencycomponents as overtones in the vibration of the strings. While normallythis type of tone is desirable, there are times when it would bedesirable to soften the tone for particular renditions or effects.

There are apparently a substantial number of patents going back a largenumber of years which deal with the provision of mutes for banjos andthe'like. By and large, however, these devices operate by muting thevibration of the head in the area of the bridge or in the area of thetailpiece. Typical examples of mute structures from the prior art arethose found in the following US. Pat. Nos.: 299,846, 312,638; 314,295;421,173;44l,930; 520,439; 526,899; 61 1,183; 706,361; 1,659,629;1,672,386; 1,708,169; 1,761,294; 1,780,361; 1,800,588; 1,810,259;1,817,461; 1,819,339; and 3,015,247. A muting device which has beenemployed for a substantial period of time commercially is shown in theBacon et a1. U.S. Pat. No. 1,800,588.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention deals with a mute for a stringedinstrument, particularly a banjo which can be positioned directly on theplane of the bridge over which the strings are received, the mutingdevice being a resilient pad which is carried by an arm and is capableof pivoting movement into and out of muting relation with the strings.

In a. preferred form of the invention, the mute includes an arm having avertically extending portion and a horizontally extending portion, thevertically extending portion being arranged to be secured in pivotallysupported relation with respect to a peripherally extending flangeportion of the banjo. An elongated carrier extends in angularrelationship from the end of the horizontally extending portion of thearm, with the centerline of the long dimension of the carrier beingmovable into a position where it coincides with the plane of the banjobridge. A resilient pad is carried by the carrier and is engagable withthe bridge in directly overly- I ing relation to dampen the vibration ofthe strings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, features and advantagesof the invention will be readily apparent from the following descriptionof a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, although variations and modifications may beefiected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novelconcepts of the disclosure, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a banjo equipped with the mutingdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, view in elevation on an enlarged scale of themuting device in position over the bridge; and

FIG. isa view of the muting device itself, particularly illustrating themanner of attaching the device to the banjo.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The mute of the presentinvention is capable of attachment to any standard banjo. A typicalstyle of banjo is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including a neck 10 having ahead portion 11 through which keys 12 extend for tuning purposes.Strings 13 extending between the keys 12 and a tailpiece 14 aretensioned by passage over a conventional bridge 15.

The banjo head structure 16 includes a peripheral flange portion 17 onwhich there are located spaced holes 18 which provide ports for ventingthe sound emanating from a resonator (not shown) located within thebanjo head structure 16.

The banjo assembly also includes the usual head 19 which is tensioned bymeans of a tensioning ring 20 and adjustable tensioning clamps 21.

The improved mute of the present invention has been identified generallyat reference numeral 22 in FIG. 1. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mutingdevice 22 has a vertically extending arm portion 23 and ahorizontallyextending arm portion 24. The lower end of the vertically extending armportion 23 is provided with threads 25. A pair of washers 26 and 27 anda pair of nuts 28 and 29 serve to pivotally mount the vertical endportion to the peripheral flange 17 through one of the holes 18.

The inner end-of the horizontally extending arm portion 24 is connectedto an enlongated carrier 30 by means of set screws 31. The extreme endof the horizontally extending arm portion 24 may be provided with aflattened portion so that the carrier 30 may be positioned adjustablyalong the end of the arm portion 24 to accommodate banjos of difierentsize.

As best seen in FIG. 1, the carrier 30 includes an angularly' inclinedarm 32 which carries a resilient pad 33. The pad 33 maybe composed offelt, rubber, flexible polyurethane foam, or other flexible dampingmaterial. Theangular relationship of the arm 32 with respect .to theremainder of the carrier is such that the arm 32 can be positioned withits centerline coinciding with the plane of the bridge 15 andconsequently the resilient pad 33 will contact all four of the strings13 with substantially equal pressure. The result is a muting of the ycan be readily pivoted into an out-of-the-wayposition when themutingeffect is not desired.

The mute of the present invention can be inexpensively produced fromreadily available materials and can be attached to' any banjo ofstandard design.

It should be evident thatvarious'modifications can be made to thedescribed embodiments without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mute for a banjo having a raised head portion, a peripheral flangeportion about said head portion, a bridge on said head portion'andstrings extending in spaced relation across said bridge, said mutecomprising an arm having a vertically extending portion and ahorizontally extending portion, means for securing said verticallyextending portion pivotally supported relacides with the plane of saidbridge, and a resilient pad carried by said carrier and being engagablewith said bridge to dampen the vibration of said strings.

2;. The mute of claim 1 which includes means for ad- 5 justablypositioning said carrier on said horizontally extending portion of saidarm.

1. A mute for a banjo having a raised head portion, a peripheral flange portion about said head portion, a bridge on said head portion and strings extending in spaced relation across said bridge, said mute comprising an arm having a vertically extending portion and a horizontally extending portion, means for securing said vertically extending portion in pivotally supported relation with respect to said peripheral flange portion with said horizontally extending portion being pivotable into substantially parallel spaced relationship to said head portion, an elongated carrier extending in angular relationship from the end of said horizontally extending portion, the centerline of the long dimension of said carrier being movable into a position wherein it coincides with the plane of said bridge, and a resilient pad carried by said carrier and being engagable with said bridge to dampen the vibration of said strings.
 2. The mute of claim 1 which includes means for adjustably positioninG said carrier on said horizontally extending portion of said arm. 